Building of Cornwall waterfront storage tanks put on hold

Federal government meeting with city, Akwesasne Mohawk First Nation

The City of Cornwall and the federal government continue to meet about a controversial storage tank development on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in the heart of Cornwall.

Cornwall's mayor and residents have protested since they discovered that a private company was building chemical storage tanks on land they had intended to be part of a major renovation of the city's waterfront.

Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger has said the community deserves more information from the federal government about what's happening in their city. (CBC)

The land south of Harbour Road is owned by Transport Canada, but the federal government leased the land to a private company.

The company is building the tanks to hold calcium chloride for de-icing roads, at the same site as an old oil storage tank farm.

Earlier this week, construction at the site was temporarily halted while the parties try to come to a resolution.

Cornwall Mayor Bob Kilger was in Ottawa Friday for talks along with representatives of the Akwesasne Mohawk First Nation.

The tanks sit on land that is part of a registered Mohawk land claim.

Kevin Hargreaves, the president of Cornwall's Chamber of Commerce, said the appearance of an excavator at the riverbank in late November was their only indication that something was happening at the site.

Hargreaves said the city was working on plans to better develop the waterfront, and said the decision to place the tanks there hurts those plans.

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